1879 Lovely Opera House

Lovely's New Opera house has received the finishing touches. The building is 32x90 feet, two stories high, the second story proper forming the hall. This has a nice high ceiling and is well-ventilated, lighted, and provided with two large stairways. The architect and carpenter work of the building was superintended by Mr. F.J. Harmon and is well and substantially done. The painting and graining outside and in was done by the Treadwell Bros. and is done as good as it can be done by anybody. The interior of the hall is grained in oak and maple with black-walnut trimmings making a very neat, showy appearance. In the rear of the hall is a stage 26 feet deep with a 20-foot perscenium provided with four scenes and a drop curtain, which have been placed in the hall within the last week and are the work of W.C. Pope. The scenery is an excellent piece of work and is the biggest addition Mr. Lovely could have made. As above stated the scenes are four in number consisting of a street scene, a parlor scene, a kitchen scene and a wood scene, while the drop curtain is a handsome landscape. Much credit is due Mr. Lovely in his persistent efforts to furnish Fowlerville with such an excellent public hall, which the people thus far seem to appreciate.

And thus began a long run of performances, speeches, parties, and orations in the hall. The above article in the local newspaper definitely gave a great description of the hall -- how nice it would have been to find pictures of this hall, but no such luck.